As if the volatility in commodity markets this week was not enough, gold, silver, and copper experienced free falls on Friday as investors rushed to book profits after prices had hit record highs earlier this week.

Gold prices slumped more than 5%, and fell below $5,000 briefly, while silver’s decline was more brutal as the white metal plummeted 15% to below $100.

On Thursday, gold had hit $5,600 per ounce, while silver traded above $120 per ounce.

However, prices had remained volatile throughout the week, with both metals hitting a series of record highs.  

Meanwhile, oil prices also fell slightly after hitting four-month highs on Thursday on easing geopolitical tensions. However, at the time of writing, prices had mostly recovered.

Oil had hit a four-month high on Thursday on the back of increasing geopolitical tensions and concerns about supply.

Prices are likely to remain volatile ahead of this weekend’s Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies’ meeting.

Bullion plunge

Gold and silver prices came to a screeching halt on Friday as the precious metals experienced wild swings to the downside. Both metals are set to end a volatile week on the back foot.  

Silver prices on COMEX, which peaked above $120 per ounce earlier this week, fell below $100 on Friday.

Meanwhile, gold prices briefly fell below the crucial mark of $5,000 per ounce earlier on Friday, with the yellow metal now trading around $5,030.94 an ounce.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he selected former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to lead the US Fed.

Anticipation of Warsh’s appointment had already caused the dollar index—which measures the US currency’s value against other currencies—to strengthen.

“The markets see Warsh as a more hawkish candidate than, for example, Kevin Hassett, who was seen to have high chances for the position at times and is considered a Trump loyalist,” Thu Lan Nguyen, head of FX and commodity research at Commerzbank AG, said in a report.

The final trading session of the month saw profit-taking after significant gains in gold and silver, which were up 17% and 39% in January, respectively.

This profit-taking followed several days of low liquidity, where relatively small trading volumes, fueled by the fear of missing out, led to disproportionately large price movements.

“Despite the savagery of the selloff, gold found some support around $5,000,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Silver saw even sharper moves, halting a seven-day winning streak and retreating aggressively after touching extreme highs earlier in the week.

At the time of writing, the gold contract on COMEX was at $5,077.25 per ounce, down 5.2%, while silver was at $98 per ounce, down 14.3%.

Oil reverses early losses

After initially pulling back from four-month highs , crude oil prices managed to recover some of their upside momentum as the market witnessed unprecedented swings.

On Thursday, front-month West Texas Intermediate briefly traded above $66 per barrel before selling pressure pushed prices lower to $63.50; however, they subsequently rebounded.

Oil prices retreated from their peaks following President Trump’s announcement that he would engage in talks with Iran’s leaders.

This lifted hopes that diplomacy (“jaw-jaw”) would prevail over conflict (“war-war”).

However, the substantial presence of US warships in the region and an insistence from Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, that the US remains prepared to act serve as counterpoints to this optimism.

“Technically, crude continues to trade north of the downtrend which began last summer,” said Morrison.

Survey-based estimates detailing OPEC production will be released early next week, offering insight into the current state of oil supply within OPEC member nations.

Barbara Lambrecht, commodity analyst at Commerzbank AG, said:

Against this backdrop, it can be assumed that the eight OPEC+ countries, which will agree on their future production strategy over the weekend, will stick to their previous production targets.

The price of WTI crude oil was at $65.77 per barrel, up 0.6%, while Brent was at $70 per barrel, also up 0.6%.

Copper tumbles

Base metals, including copper, were experiencing declines on Friday, concluding a tumultuous week.

This week was defined by reaching record-high prices, technical issues on exchanges, and a resurgence of uncertainty in the broader macro environment.

Benchmark copper futures on the LME have retreated toward $13,000 a ton after soaring above $14,500 on Thursday, a swing emblematic of speculative excess and thinning liquidity.

The shift comes as Chinese investors temper their exposure and the US dollar climbs after US President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair.

Warsh has recently endorsed lower interest rates, a stance that, paradoxically, lent near-term support to risk assets while rekindling debate over the Fed’s inflation priorities.

“Physical indicators now signal a cooling of the frenzy that recently gripped the copper market,” said Neil Welsh, head of metals at Britannia Global Markets.

The Yangshan premium has flipped into discount territory, Shanghai inventories remain elevated, and the forward spread has moved into contango, suggesting that tightening fears may have been overstated.

The significant volatility seen in copper futures over a short period is highlighted by CME’s recent decision to raise margin requirements.

The rally in copper prices exhibited a more speculative nature, moving beyond what is justified by supply dynamics, according to Welsh.

A key sign of this shift is that industrial consumers are resisting paying prices equivalent to futures, especially when added margins increase the financial burden.

The two-week period leading up to China’s Lunar New Year in mid-February is a critical risk window.

The potential for position squaring ahead of the holiday, coupled with a strengthening dollar, could limit upward price movement and initiate a period of consolidation.

Welsh said:

Traders may find opportunity in heightened volatility, but caution is warranted as market dynamics tilt from exuberance toward correction.

At the time of writing, the three-month copper contract on LME was at $13,414 per ton, down 2.6%.

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BitMine stock price continued its downtrend as Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped, a trend that may continue on Friday now that the crypto market crash is accelerating. BMNR dropped to $26.70, down by 83% from its highest level in July last year. This article explores why the stock may continue falling in the near term.

BitMine stock at risk as Ethereum price slips

Ethereum price crashed to a low of $2,683 on Friday, down sharply from the all-time high of $4,950. It continued the downtrend after it emerged that Kevin Warsh would become the next Federal Reserve Chair despite his past criticism of the crypto industry.

The daily timeframe chart shows that Ethereum price dropped to a low of $2,683, its lowest level since November 21st last year. It has moved below the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA).

The coin has crashed below the 61.8% Fibonacci Retracement level at $2,743. It also moved below the Weak, Stop & Reverse level of the Murrey Math Lines tool.

Ethereum price has moved below the Supertrend and Ichimoku cloud indicators, a highly bearish sign in technical analysis. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the MACD indicators have continued falling in the past few months.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is where Ethereum continues falling, potentially to the next key support level at $2,500. A move below that level will point to more downside, potentially to the 78.6% Fibonacci Retracement level at $2,145.

BitMine stock price technicals points to more downside 

The daily timeframe chart shows that the BMNR stock price has crashed in the past few months, moving from a high of $160 in July last year to a low of $28.70.

The stock has remained below all moving averages and the Supertrend indicator. A closer look shows that the stock has formed a highly bearish descending triangle pattern.

The lower side of this pattern was at $25.50, while the upper side connects the highest swings since October last year. The two sides are nearing their confluence level.

Meanwhile, the stock has moved below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) and the Supertrend indicator.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is where the stock makes a strong bearish breakdown, potentially to the key support level at $20.

BitMine’s long-term outlook is bullish 

The ongoing weakness in the BMNR stock price will be brief as the company has several bullish catalysts in the future.

Its main catalyst for the stock is that Ethereum has more upside in the long term. Data shows that Ethereum’s network is thriving, with the number of active addresses and transactions soaring. Its active addresses rose by 54% to over 14.7 million, while transactions rose by 40% to 67 million.

Ethereum is also a major player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) and Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization industry, with its network being used by popular companies like JPMorgan and Janus Henderson.

BitMine will also become a major cash generator in the long term because of its staking solution. It now holds 4.3 million tokens, and its goal is to get to 6 million.  

Ethereum has a staking reward of 2.85%, meaning that its hoard will make 17,100 ETH tokens a year. At the current price, it means that the company will start making nearly $500 million a year.

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Nvidia stock was mostly flat in early trading on Friday, consolidating recent gains that have lifted the stock to its highest level since early November.

Shares were down 0.1% at $192.22, after rising 0.5% in the previous session.

The stock has advanced over the past week on a mix of optimism around renewed access to China and encouraging signals from major customers’ earnings, reinforcing confidence in Nvidia’s dominant position in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Analysts lift target price on Nvidia stock

Wolfe Research raised its price target on Nvidia to $275 from $250, arguing that the company’s shift toward rack-scale AI systems, higher average selling prices and sustained margins will drive earnings well beyond current market expectations.

Wolfe estimates that shipments of Blackwell-based racks reached about 1,000 units per week by the end of calendar 2025 and expects that pace to hold through 2026.

That implies annual shipments of roughly 50,000 to 60,000.

The firm also expects Nvidia’s next-generation Rubin platform to begin ramping in the second half of 2026 without delays, helped by design changes that simplify assembly.

Based on those assumptions, Wolfe forecasts approximately 55,000 Blackwell racks and 20,000 Rubin racks in 2026.

For 2027, it models around 55,000 Rubin racks and 15,000 Rubin Ultra racks.

Over time, Wolfe expects Nvidia to continue shifting its product mix toward rack-scale systems, with slower growth in HGX and other standalone platforms.

Earlier in the week, Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and $250 price target on Nvidia, citing increasingly strong market checks across the artificial intelligence ecosystem.

The bank acknowledged that Nvidia’s shares have lagged recently as AI beneficiaries broaden and supply-chain constraints affect much of the semiconductor industry.

However, Morgan Stanley described concerns about potential market-share losses as “overblown.”

It said Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin platform should reinforce its leadership in AI computing and help counter fears around competition.

Morgan Stanley also addressed investor unease around the financing of frontier AI model developers and Nvidia’s exposure to that ecosystem, saying the situation “requires some adjustment,” but does not undermine the long-term opportunity.

OpenAI IPO seen as potential catalyst

Investors are also watching developments around ChatGPT developer OpenAI for clues about sentiment toward the broader AI ecosystem.

OpenAI is preparing for a public listing as soon as the fourth quarter of this year and is pursuing a fundraising round of up to $100 billion at a potential valuation of $830 billion ahead of its IPO, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter.

A successful IPO would likely lift sentiment across AI-exposed stocks, including Nvidia.

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Palantir stock price has crashed into a technical bear market, moving from a high of $208 in November to the current $150. It has also formed a highly bearish chart pattern pointing to more downside in the near term as the company prepares for its earnings.

Palantir stock price technical analysis 

The daily timeframe chart shows that the PLTR stock price has been in a strong downward trend in the past few months. It has moved from a high of $208 in November to the current $150.

The stock has formed the highly bearish head-and-shoulders pattern, which is made up of a head, two shoulders, and shoulders. In this case, it is now hovering near its neckline at $147.

The stock has now moved below the 50-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA), meaning that a death cross pattern could be about to form.

It has moved below the Supertrend indicator and the ultimate support level. Therefore, the most likely scenario is where it drops, potentially to the psychological level at $100 in the near term.

PLTR stock chart | Source: TradingView 

Palantir is facing major headwinds ahead of earnings 

The ongoing Palantir stock price crash is happening as the company faces more headwinds ahead of its earnings. One of the recent headwinds is its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. However, chances are that the outrage will not have an impact on its business.

There are concerns about its valuation, which has become overstretched in the past few years. Data shows the company has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 217, much higher than the sector median of 24. The multiple is also much higher than the five-year average of 135.

A P/E ratio of 217 makes it more expensive than other companies in the United States. A good example of this is NVIDIA, a company that dominates the AI data center industry. 

NVIDIA has a faster growth trajectory and much higher margins than Palantir. Yet, its forward price-to-earnings ratio is 40. 

Another way to look at its valuation is to look at its revenue and profits. Data shows that Palantir’s revenue rose from $1 billion in 2020 to $2.8 billion in 2024. Its profit stood at over $1 billion in the trailing twelve months (TTM). 

Analysts believe that its revenue in 2025 will be $4.4 billion, followed by $6.2 billion this year. As such, its annual revenue will cross the $10 billion mark in 2029.

The company now has a market capitalization of $361 billion, meaning that its forward price to sales multiple is 58, which makes it highly expensive.

Analysts expect the upcoming results to show that its upcoming results will show that its revenue to be $1.34 billion, up by 62% YoY. Its earnings per share are expected to come in at 23 cents, up by 14 cents.

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SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) silenced skeptics this morning, reporting “blockbuster” Q4 financials, with revenue exceeding the coveted “$1.0 billion” mark for the first time.

The financial technology specialist posted adjusted earnings of 13 cents a share – handily beating 11 cents per share that experts had forecast.

Still, SOFI stock remains down over 25% versus its November high.

Much of this hangover is related to a “massive” $1.5 billion capital raise the company announced last month that sparked dilution concerns.

Speaking with CNBC this morning, however, Anthony Noto – its chief executive – argued the raise is “misunderstood” as it may just prove the secret sauce for SOFI’s long-term dominance.

Why capital raise is actually positive for SoFi stock

While dilution concerns often see the market react to stock offerings with an initial sell-off, Noto confirmed the capital raise was purely “opportunistic” and not an urgent response to cash depletion

In fact, it was immediately “accretive to our tangible book value,” boosting it by $2 per share to an overall $7, he added.

On “Squawk Box”, the chief executive said the funding means “greater flexibility” for the Nasdaq-listed firm to “drive faster growth” through new offerings or strategic deals that “fortify” our footing against rivals.

By doubling its statutory required leverage ratio, the fintech now has “optionality to grow in any direction,” including aggressively growing its loan platform or cutting its high-cost debt to improve margins.

And that – most certainly – is bullish for SOFI shares, he concluded.

Noto’s take on why SOFI shares are worth owning

CEO Anthony Noto touted SoFi shares on CNBC, saying the company is in a “unique” position to benefit from both artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency tailwinds.

According to him, both blockchain and AI are “tech supercycles” that will define the next decade.

By integrating AI into their underwriting via the Galileo and Technisys platforms, SOFI is driving efficiency, while their recent launch of integrated crypto trading caters to a huge member demand.

Noto’s vision is to become a “one-stop shop” where sophisticated AI-driven financial advice meets the frontier of digital assets, creating a diversified ecosystem that traditional banks simply cannot replicate.

How to play SoFi Technologies after Q4 earnings

The case for owning SOFI stock is arguably stronger now than during its November peak.

With the company forecasting $4.66 billion in revenue for 2026 and a 30% increase in membership, its growth engine is  really “firing on all cylinders”.

While SoFi Technologies is expensive compared to legacy banks at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of less than “9”, it’s a bargain compared to high-growth tech peers given its 160% year-over-year EPS growth in Q4.

Between the “Loan Platform” business scaling – where SOFI earns fees without the balance sheet risk – and the massive capital cushion now at Noto’s disposal, the company is perfectly positioned to capitalize on a stabilizing interest rate environment.

For investors, the “dilution” may soon look like a small price to pay for a fortress balance sheet.

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SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) has already witnessed an exceptional 20x rally in less than a year – but a senior Cantor Fitzgerald analyst says its “massive and unprecedented” earnings beat warrant buying at current levels.

The flash memory storage specialist reported record revenue of $3.03 billion and earnings of $6.20 per share for its fiscal second quarter, released late on Thursday.

Profit figures were well above market expectations, with analysts having forecast earnings of $3.62 per share.

Christopher Muse said the results indicate the company is operating in what he described as a “perfect storm” of strong demand and constrained supply.

Following the post-earnings rally, SanDisk shares are now trading at more than double their level at the start of 2026.

Why SanDisk stock is poised to rip higher in 2026

Muse expects average selling prices (ASPs) for NAND flash to soar by another 50% quarter-over-quarter, signalling SanDisk is seeing a kind of pricing power that’s rare for the memory sector.

This pricing power, he believes, will push the Nasdaq-listed firm’s gross margin to a “staggering” 67% – nearly double the 34.8% it reported just a few months ago.

According to the Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, SNDK stock could rally much further in 2026 because the company’s enterprise SSDs have become “critical enablers” for hyperscale AI infrastructure.

Note that the unprecedented AI demand helped the company guide for $13 a share of earnings for its current financial quarter – nearly double the $7.0 Muse had anticipated.

SNDK shares remain relatively inexpensive to own

In his research note, Christopher Muse argued the market is still underestimating the “structural shift” in SanDisk’s profitability following its spinoff from Western Digital last year.

“We are witnessing a structural reset. The unprecedented shortages of NAND memory are giving SanDisk significant power to raise prices, creating massive upside in the short term.”

Moreover, SNDK is successfully moving customers away from quarterly price negotiations toward multi-year agreements, which he believes will reduce the historical cyclicality of the stock, helping justify a higher multiple.

Note that SanDisk shares are not egregiously overvalued in 2026.

At a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of about “34” only, they’re actually cheaper to own than Nvidia at “43”.

SanDisk could hit $800 over the next 12 months

On Friday, the investment firm announced aggressive upward revisions to its long-term estimates.

Its senior expert Christopher Muse now expects SanDisk to earn $77 on a per-share basis this year, and lift it further to a remarkable $91 a share in 2027.

That’s nearly four times his expectation for next year ahead of the Q4 release.

All in all, the Cantor Fitzgerald analyst believes SNDK shares will hit “$800” by the end of 2026, indicating potential upside of more than 30% from here.

That said, the California-based company doesn’t currently pay a healthy dividend to attract income-focused investors.

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Europe enters the year in a state of strategic tension: resilient at home, uneasy abroad.

Businesses are still hiring and investing, but confidence is wobbling as global risks mount. From boardrooms rattled by trade threats to governments quietly redesigning defense and deterrence, the continent is adapting in real time.

Growth has surprised on the upside, yet security, trade, and geopolitics are reshaping priorities faster than economic models can keep up.

UK business confidence weakens amid global economic doubts

UK business confidence stumbled in January as executives turned increasingly pessimistic about the global economy.

Lloyds’ Business Barometer fell to +44% from +47% in December, driven by a sharp 14-point collapse in economic optimism to +28%, its lowest in a year.

The timing wasn’t coincidental: Trump’s tariff threats against Britain and European nations dominated the survey window (January 5-20), rattling boardrooms already unmoored by post-budget uncertainty.

The silver lining? Firms remain confident in their own operations, with trading prospects climbing to a three-month high of +59%.

Hiring intentions and wage expectations strengthened, too, signaling resilience at the ground level.

The contradiction reveals a UK economy caught between two realities: businesses adapting and investing locally while watching darkening skies globally.

Germany eyes European nuclear deterrent amid Trump uncertainty

Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed Thursday that Europe is beginning early-stage talks on a shared nuclear umbrella, not to replace the US arrangement, but to supplement it.

The move signals profound anxiety about Washington’s reliability under Trump, who’s rattled allies with Greenland acquisition rhetoric and tariff threats.

Germany itself remains legally barred from owning nukes under the 1990 and 1969 treaties, but Merz pivoted smartly: Germany can’t build warheads, but it can architect a European system with France and Britain’s arsenals.

The pivot matters because six of ten Germans now distrust the US nuclear deterrent, a seismic shift for a nation that built its post-WWII identity around Atlantic security.

Merz emphasized timing isn’t now, framing talks as long-term reflection rather than panic. But the subtext screams urgency: European strategic autonomy isn’t optional anymore, it’s existential.

Europe raids crisis fund vault for defense

Europe’s crisis kitty just got a second act.

Pierre Gramegna, head of the European Stability Mechanism, revealed Thursday that the 430 billion euro ($514 billion) emergency fund, originally designed to bail out failing economies during the 2008 debt crisis, could funnel money straight to defense.

The timing screams geopolitics: Baltic states are hemorrhaging cash on rearmament (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia each doubled defense spending to 5% of GDP), while Trump’s threats toward Europe and uncertainty about US security guarantees force Brussels to scramble.

Gramegna cleverly positioned it as “precautionary credit lines” to avoid the stigma of ESM bailouts; smaller nations wouldn’t need to broadcast economic weakness to access funds.

The catch? All 21 eurozone members must approve, including neutral Austria and Cyprus.

It’s Europe’s defense moment, written in borrowed time and borrowed money.

Eurozone closes 2025 strong despite trade headwinds

The eurozone ended 2025 punching above its weight.

Quarterly growth hit 0.3% in Q4, above the 0.2% forecast, with full-year expansion reaching a robust 1.5%, crushing the European Commission’s 1.3% prediction.

Spain’s engine kept roaring: 0.8% quarterly growth, while Germany surprised upward at 0.3%, shattering skeptics’ recession narrative.

The bloc’s 350 million people absorbed US tariff threats, Chinese competition, and Ukraine’s war without buckling.

Households finally started spending after hoarding cash post-pandemic, while Germany’s defense and infrastructure spending boom won’t fully land until Q2, but promises cascade effects across European supplier networks.

The catch? Exports remain comatose as tariffs and the dollar’s collapse permanently rewired trade dynamics.

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The digital gold rush of the last two years has officially moved from the cloud to the streets.

In a series of high-energy appearances on CNBC this week, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives declared 2026 the year of “Physical AI” – the moment where artificial intelligence sheds its screen-bound skin to inhabit robots, vehicles, and handheld devices.

Ives – known for his relentless bullishness on the US tech sector – argued that the “fourth industrial revolution” has reached a tipping point, and the following three “best in the world” names own the intersection of silicon and steel.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)

For Dan Ives, the EV maker has ceased to be a mere car company – and has transformed into the preeminent physical AI play on the planet.

In a recent CNBC interview, Ives dismissed concerns over quarterly delivery fluctuations – urging investors to look at the “golden year” ahead.

He believes Tesla Inc.’s valuation is anchored by two transformative physical technologies: Full Self-Driving (FSD) and the Optimus humanoid robot.

Ives famously noted that while others see a car company, he sees an “embodied AI” powerhouse.

As FSD adoption leaps toward 50% and autonomous “Cybercabs” hit the streets in 30 cities by the end of 2026, Tesla’s margin story will shift from automotive to high-scale software, he concluded.

Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA)

No discussion of physical AI is complete without the man Ives calls the “Godfather of AI”, Jensen Huang.

Ives reiterated on “Squawk Box” that Nvidia remains the bedrock upon which the entire physical AI ecosystem is built.

From massive compute power required to train autonomous fleets to the specialized chips driving industrial robotics, Nvidia’s hardware is the “oxygen” of the industry.

Ives argued that the company remains four to five years ahead of any serious competitor, creating a moat that is effectively impenetrable.

“It’s Nvidia’s world, and everyone else is paying rent,” Ives quipped – emphasizing that the shift toward physical robotics only deepens the global dependency on Nvidia’s hardware.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)

While Tesla moves bodies and Nvidia moves data, Apple Inc is Ives’ pick for the “invisible” yet massive physical AI upgrade cycle.

Ives argues that 2026 is the “prove it” moment for Cupertino, as the multinational finally integrates generative AI into the pockets of billions.

He pointed to the expected formal partnership with Google Gemini and the launch of AI-enabled iPhone hardware as the catalysts for a historic upgrade cycle.

To Ives, the iPhone is the ultimate “physical AI device” because it serves as the primary interface between the average consumer and the AI revolution.

He predicts that this shift will unlock billions in recurring, high-margin revenue – potentially pushing AAPL’s valuation toward the $5 trillion mark as Siri transforms into a proactive, physical-world assistant.

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Silver’s vertical sprint to a record around $120 per ounce on January 29 has flipped into a punishing reversal.

The prices crashed on Friday as leveraged bets unwind and the dollar snaps back.

After some venues briefly printed intraday lows in the low-$90s on Friday, silver has since sliced through the closely watched $80 threshold.

Market mechanics: what broke and why it matters

The speed of the downdraft stunned even veteran metals desks.

Silver surged to all‑time highs near $120, capping an annual gain of roughly 300%, a 12‑month run that multiple analysts had started to describe as bubble‑like.

Then came the turn as a potential Federal Reserve pick seen as more hawkish, which helped the dollar rip higher, and metals that had been bid up on inflation and liquidity trades suddenly faced a powerful headwind.

Major outlets reported one of silver’s biggest single‑day percentage drops in decades on Friday, with front‑month futures tumbling more than 20% at the worst point of the session.

Dealers and strategists described a classic “deleveraging event”: as prices broke through successive technical support levels, stop‑loss orders, margin calls, and forced liquidations of crowded long positions amplified the fall.

Selling pressure also spilled into popular silver ETFs, where outflows and hedging added to futures volume.

Thinness in the underlying market made matters worse.

Exchange and industry data show exchange‑registered silver inventories have been come down sharply this month, leaving less metal readily available in vaults and making prices more sensitive to order flow.

Opportunity vs. risk: where analysts say to look next

With silver still well above pre‑rally levels but far off its highs, analysts are splitting into two clear camps.

The contrarian camp argues that any break toward or below $70-$75 would be a tactical buying zone for investors with a long‑term horizon.

They point to strong structural demand from solar panel makers, electronics, and electric‑vehicle supply chains, alongside repeated estimates of sizable annual market deficits in recent years.

From this perspective, a price slide driven by position unwinds and dollar swings, rather than a collapse in industrial demand, looks like an opportunity.

The caution camp counters that the technical damage is serious and may not be repaired quickly.

Bank and macro‑fund strategists who had warned that silver was becoming “overheated” now see the latest move as a necessary reset.

They flag three key risks: still‑elevated speculative positioning that could unwind further, rising real yields that pressure non‑yielding assets like precious metals, and the possibility that a stronger dollar trend persists.

In that scenario, a move through $80 could be the start of a broader re‑rating rather than a brief buying window.

For miners and industrial users, the focus is shifting to hedging decisions and physical supply.

Lower prices may prompt producers to lock in forward sales, while big buyers weigh whether to step in with longer‑dated contracts if spot drops further.

For shorter‑term traders, analysts suggest watching three indicators closely: the gold–silver ratio, COMEX open interest, and inventory flows at major exchanges.

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Markets are closing the day grappling with a sharp mix of policy, politics, and positioning risk.

Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh for Fed chair is forcing investors to reassess the path for rates, liquidity, and asset prices.

That shift is rippling across gold, crypto, and the dollar, while geopolitical tensions, from the Panama Canal to US-China rivalry, add another layer of uncertainty to an already fragile global backdrop.

Trump’s Fed pick

Donald Trump has nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, signaling a potential shift toward a more hawkish policy stance.

Warsh has previously criticized ultra-loose monetary policy and could push for higher rates if inflation flares again, even as growth moderates.

Markets are already gaming out the implications: a Warsh Fed might be less tolerant of elevated asset prices and more focused on shrinking the balance sheet.

The nomination sets up a contentious confirmation battle in the Senate and injects fresh uncertainty into the outlook for interest rates, equities and the dollar.

Citi: Gold supported, upside capped

Citigroup expects gold to stay underpinned in the near term as geopolitical tensions, lingering recession risks and US political uncertainty keep safe-haven demand alive.

The bank says central-bank buying and strong investment interest should help limit downside, even if US rate cuts are slower than markets once hoped.

However, Citi sees some of those supports fading later in 2026 as growth stabilizes and risk appetite improves, potentially capping further upside.

Still, the bank argues any sharp pullbacks are likely to be used as buying opportunities, keeping prices elevated by historical standards rather than collapsing into a deep bear market.

Trump targets China’s Panama canal role

Donald Trump is once again raising alarms over Chinese influence at the Panama Canal, zeroing in on Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison, which operates key ports at both entrances.

He is casting the issue as a strategic vulnerability for the US, arguing that Beijing’s grip over critical infrastructure could threaten national security and supply chains.

Panama and the company reject that framing, stressing they are commercial operators, not political proxies.

The flare-up comes as Washington and Beijing remain locked in a broader contest over trade, technology and global chokepoints, turning the canal into yet another flashpoint in that rivalry.

Bitcoin slides on hawkish Fed fears

Bitcoin slid toward $81,000 as traders quickly linked Trump’s pick of Kevin Warsh for Fed chair to a potentially tougher rates backdrop.

A more hawkish Fed, or even just the perception of it, challenges the easy-liquidity narrative that helped fuel crypto’s latest run.

Derivatives data showed leveraged longs getting squeezed, amplifying the downside as stop-loss orders kicked in and funding rates cooled.

Some in the market argue the move is an overreaction driven by headline algos, but others warn that if yields push higher and the dollar firms on Warsh’s nomination, speculative assets like bitcoin could stay under pressure.

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